Last week was a pretty rough week for me, with school, work and a rigorous personal life conspiring to prevent me from savoring a single relaxing moment.
But the school week and work week came and went, the weekend finally arrived, and I thought I’d let loose a little and catch a movie.
Really wild stuff, I know.
So I went to the theater to watch “Starsky and Hutch.”
I sat back in my seat, anticipating the sure-fire entertainment of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson when all of a sudden my lighthearted mood was ruined by a load of racist, tasteless “humor” from none other than the Wayans morons… I mean brothers.
Before “Starsky and Hutch,” a preview for the new Shawn and Marlon Wayans movie “White Chicks” flashed in all its idiotic glory across the screen.
Before I get started in conveying to you my disdain for this “film,” let me explain the premise of the movie: Two African-American FBI Agents (Shawn and Marlon) offer to protect two rich, white hotel heiresses named the Wilton sisters, whose lives have been threatened after they mess up a drug bust in New York.
The two agents take the case further, however, by painting their skin white and dressing up as the girls so as to lure the bad guys out into the open.
Now, I know this film is obviously meant to parody Hollywood socialites Paris and Nicky Hilton, but what the film does is send a racist message that it’s okay for the Wayans brothers to make fun of white people, specifically white females.
Now don’t get me wrong, Paris and Nicky Hilton deserve to be made fun of, so the premise of the movie is not really what upsets me.
What upsets me is the title — “White Chicks.”
Talk about your stereotypes — this is getting ridiculous.
So the Wayans think all white women are a bunch of ditzy, “like, for sure” valley girls who twirl gum around their fingers as they go through life without a clue?
Probably not, but after watching “Scary Movie 2,” I don’t want to give Shawn, Marlon and the film’s director, Keenan Ivory Wayans, too much credit.
I know you readers out there are surely thinking that I should lighten up; that it’s only some stupid movie about a couple of cool black guys dressing up like a couple of ditzy white girls and experiencing all sorts of crazy highjinks.
I tried to lighten up, but I can’t.
I can’t get past the hypocrisy involved in this situation.
Think about it this way: What if the roles were reversed?
What if the Farrelly Brothers (writers/directors of “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary”) made a movie called “Black Chicks,” which starred Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as two white guys parading around as a couple of tough-talkin’, finger-wavin’ African-American sisters who want to take over the world of tennis?
Do you think that is a good idea for a movie?
I don’t.
I think it’s tasteless and tacky, not to mention stereotypical.
So what’s the difference between that movie and the Wayans’ “White Chicks?”
There is no difference. Poorly conceived racial jokes and perpetuating stereotypes are wrong no matter who initiates them, be it black people, white people, Hispanics, Asians or whoever.
I can take a joke as well as the next guy, but as long as a racial double standard exists that says it’s okay to make fun of white people while whites are expected to walk the tightrope of political correctness, then I can’t just sit back and laugh.